How Important are Smoke Detectors & Carbon Monoxide Detectors In Your Home?
Let’s start with the facts.
- 75% of fire losses occur in homes
- More Americans die from fires than all other natural disasters combined
- More people are affected by Carbon Monoxide than fire
Local codes may vary depending on the municipality that you reside in and depending on the age of your home. Here are our recommendations for a safe home.
According to Redesign, Always have a ‘hardwired, interconnected system’. This means that if one detector begins to alarm, it will set off all of the other alarms that are connected to it. This assures you that no matter where you are in the house; you will be alerted of a hazardous situation somewhere else within the house.
- Smoke Detectors- At a minimum install one smoke detector in every sleeping area, and on each level of the house at the top of the steps.
- Carbon Monoxide Detectors- One detector per floor.
- Test your system regularly. It only takes a minute. Just press the test button on one detector and listen to all of the alarms to make sure they are operating properly. Even if you have a hardwired system, batteries can still go bad on these units and the system should still be checked.